


Iowa

by Jade_Waters



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Iowa, M/M, Star Trek: AOS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2013-06-08
Packaged: 2017-12-14 08:48:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/834986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jade_Waters/pseuds/Jade_Waters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spock visits Iowa.  </p>
<p>Set mostly before the first movie. No spoilers at all for Into Darkness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Iowa

Spock had been to Iowa once. 

Being a very wet, green planet, Earth did not particularly appeal to Spock, so he had stuck mostly to San Francisco and the Academy. On three occasions, he had taken short trips to the American Desert, but found it only served to remind him of how Earth was not Vulcan, with its white sands and strange cactus plants. As with all new experiences, Earth could be fascinating, but it was not Vulcan. It was not home.

But once, his expertise had been requested at the Riverside shipyard in Iowa. Although he would have preferred to work until his task was complete, his coworkers had insisted he rest. The humans did not understand that he did not require the same amount of rest as they did. He found himself with unexpected time. He disliked idleness, and found the most logical option left to him would be to explore this new part of Earth.

He signed out a Starfleet hovercraft for an afternoon and drove south, away from the looming shipyard. Spock was surprised at how suddenly the landscape fell away to nothing. After 30 kilometers, he could see only fields. After another 30, he pulled off the road and exited his vehicle. The sky was vast like a desert sky, but bluer than any he’d previously encountered. Human-plowed fields covered the ground in what appeared to be corn, which undulated in waves with the wind, a green and gold ocean. There were no landmarks, no rock formations or visible rivers or even trees. 

While Spock at first felt disoriented by the sheer openness of the landscape, he soon realized that he also felt more at peace here than he had in the desert. It was alien. There was no pretense to galactic inclusivity as in San Francisco, nor any attempts on his part to force Earth to meet unfair expectations. This landscape simply was, and would not allow him to alter it. What is, is. Yes. Spock meditated on this Vulcan concept in an alien land for some time, walking beside a field and noting how the sun’s movements slowly deepened the color of the grain. Iowa was a truth not to be denied. 

Spock had gone back to the shipyard eventually, arriving just as the yellow sun set in an impressive blaze of red and orange. Two days later, he’d returned to Starfleet Academy and the Pacific Ocean, and soon placed the open fields out of his mind.

*

Spock did not think of Iowa again until he met James T. Kirk. Even before he knew the place was Kirk’s home, the human brought his memories of the place to mind. His hair and skin matched the grain, and his eyes the sky. Kirk’s entire being radiated his earthliness, as though he had risen from the dusty ground fully formed. It was illogical, but so was Kirk.

Less obvious but perhaps more significant, the force of Kirk’s personality reminded Spock of the openness of that land. Kirk and Iowa insisted on not being ignored or belittled, but rather seen for their uncontainable vastness. They burst in upon one’s consciousness, a challenge to be met - not conquered or overcome, but met. Yes, Kirk and his Iowa made a clear match.

Spock felt an illogical desire to visit Iowa again.


End file.
